FGCU tops WSU 74-63, reaches 2nd round of March Madness

French soccer club Lyon has condemned the online racist abuse suffered by midfielder Houssem Aouar after he chose to represent Algeria despite previously playing for France's national team. The 24-year-old Aouar has French and Algerian nationality. He decided to make the switch to play for Algeria last week and posted a photo of himself wearing the country’s national jersey on Instagram. He has been receiving abuse online since. Lyon says it supports Aouar “along with all the other people who are victims of racism and discriminatory acts.” Aouar played once for France in a friendly match against Ukraine three years ago.

Ivan Toney has been racially abused and faces a potential ban for allegedly breaking gambling rules. Yet only Erling Haaland and Harry Kane have scored more Premier League goals than him this season. Toney faces an uncertain future but his form made it impossible for England coach Gareth Southgate to ignore him. He has scored 17 goals in 27 appearances in all competitions for Brentford. Even if Toney remains benched for England's games against Italy and Ukraine, his ascent during such a turbulent time is remarkable.

This year’s World Baseball Classic left lasting memories, 47 games over two weeks that restored Japan’s supremacy and reinforced Shohei Ohtani’s unmatched ability while expanding the sport’s global footprint. While not a global fixation like soccer’s World Cup, the event has grown though its five editions since launching in 2006. Memories include Ohtani’s strikeout of Mike Trout in Japan's championship victory, Trea Turner’s go-ahead, eighth-inning grand slam against Venezuela, Japan’s walk-off semifinal win and Mexico’s comeback from a four-run deficit against Puerto Rico. Those ended up overshadowing injuries to star players Edwin Díaz and Jose Altuve. Attendance of 1,306,414 was the tournament’s highest, 20% over the 1,086,720 for 40 games in 2017.

Former Germany midfielder Mesut Özil has retired from soccer at the age of 34. The 2014 World Cup winner says injuries made it “more and more clear that it’s time to leave the big stage of football.” His immediate retirement brings an early end to his season with Turkish club Istanbul Basaksehir. He made only seven appearances for the team. Özil won the Spanish league title with Real Madrid in 2012 and the FA Cup four times with Arsenal. His international career ended abruptly in 2018 when he quit the Germany squad citing “racism and disrespect.”

Some of the spotlight will be on a player from Argentina when Italy and England kick off their European Championship qualifying campaign against each other in Naples. Argentina-born Mateo Retegui has been called up for the first time by Italy coach Roberto Mancini. The 23-year-old Retegui has Italian citizenship through his maternal grandmother but has spent his entire playing career in Argentina. Italy beat England on penalties in the Euro 2020 final. That triumph was a sort of absolution for Italy after it failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup and the Azzurri once again find themselves on the road to redemption after missing out on last year’s tournament too.

The proposed fight between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk to become the first undisputed world heavyweight champion since 2000 appears to be off. Usyk promoter Alex Krassyuk says the Ukrainian’s team ended negotiations because Fury was “putting so many obstacles in front of making the deal.” Usyk is the WBA, WBO and IBF champion. He went on social media last week to accept Fury’s terms for a proposed April 29 fight in London. That notably included a 70-30 split of the earnings from the bout in favor of Fury, the WBC titleholder. They were given a deadline of April 1 by the WBA to officially agree to a deal.

The red card given to England fullback Freddie Steward in the team’s Six Nations rugby loss to Ireland has been overturned after a disciplinary panel ruled the offense only merited a yellow card. England announced the panel’s decision after Steward appeared before a virtual disciplinary hearing late Tuesday. Steward was sent off in the 40th minute for what was deemed a dangerous challenge to the head of Hugo Keenan that ended the Ireland fullback’s game at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday. The score was 10-6 to the Irish at that point and they went on to win 29-16. That clinched Ireland the title and the Grand Slam.

Two-time Olympic rowing champion Helen Glover is making another comeback in a bid to qualify for a fourth Summer Games. The mother of three says she is representing a “whole community of parents” in elite sport. The 36-year-old Glover won a gold medal in the coxless pair in 2012 and 2016. She then reversed a decision to retire to place fourth at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 a year after giving birth to twins. She became the first mother to compete in rowing for Britain at the Olympics and afterward said “this really is it.” Glover says she still feels the need to be challenged.

It’s a new era for Portugal as it begins European Championship qualifying under a new coach and with Cristiano Ronaldo far away from soccer’s biggest stadiums. Portugal starts its Euro 2024 qualifying campaign at home against Liechtenstein in Group J on Thursday. Roberto Martínez will be debuting as coach and Ronaldo is in the squad. It will be Ronaldo’s first appearance with Portugal since leaving Europe for Saudi club Al Nassr. He is set to break the all-time record of appearances with a national team after tying Bader Al-Mutawa’s mark of 196 outings for Kuwait during last year’s World Cup.

March Madness has reached the Sweet 16 and so-called super seniors have had a huge impact on the teams that made it this far. Nine of the 16 teams have players in fifth seasons granted by the NCAA due to the pandemic. They bring experience, leadership and presence with them on these deep runs into the bracket. Kansas State has four, leading the Wildcats from the Little Apple to the Big Apple in coach Jerome Tang's first season. Texas also has four, led by high-scoring guard Marcus Carr. Xavier's Souley Boum, Miami's Jordan Miller and Gonzaga's Rasir Bolton also have had huge impacts on their teams in their fifth seasons.

Michigan State coach Tom Izzo is not a big fan of the transfer portal in general, lamenting that it gives young people an easy out instead of an opportunity to overcome challenges at a potentially pivotal time in their lives. The seventh-seeded Spartans would not be the Sweet 16 for the 15th time under their Hall of Fame coach without former Northeastern guard Tyson Walker and ex-Marquette forward Joey Hauser. Of course, the Spartans are not alone in relying on transfers. Not anymore. UCLA and Princeton are the only teams still in the NCAA Tournament without a transfer.

Japanese television stuck to its live coverage from Miami for almost two hours after Japan beat the United States 3-2 to win the World Baseball Classic. This was must-see viewing. Shohei Ohtani striking out Los Angeles Angels teammate Mike Trout on a pitch away to end the game was replayed repeatedly between player interviews, beer-sprayed clubhouse interludes, and the tradition of team members tossing the winning manager and players into the air. The country’s top circulating newspaper Yomiuri rolled out a special Wednesday afternoon edition for commuters, usually reserved for serious matters of state, or late-breaking election news. The headline read in Japanese: “Japan, the World's No. 1."